


all's left is what's in my mind

by whiterubys



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene, This is sad and im sorry, basically the night nanako dies and they dont know shes alive yet, bc this scene in the anime hurt me, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27056014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiterubys/pseuds/whiterubys
Summary: when Nanako passes away, the last thing Yosuke wants is to leave his partner to grieve alone.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 10
Kudos: 100





	all's left is what's in my mind

**Author's Note:**

> heyyyyyy so this game/anime fucked me up
> 
> this is based off the scene in the anime where yosuke hugs yu after nanako dies and yeah. this is the aftermath of that. bc that scene hurt me and of course i needed it to hurt more
> 
> enjoy!

Yosuke couldn’t tell how long they stood there. It might’ve been minutes, or even hours, and to be perfectly honest, he wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference if he tried. He’d lost Saki, earlier this year, but that loss was different compared to this one. He felt so  _ angry, _ to the point he’d almost killed another person. Not to mention the flurry of other emotions that his brain couldn’t shut off. Yosuke still didn’t know if letting the guy go was a good call. If he was given the choice, he’d probably march right back in there and toss him into the TV himself.

But that didn’t matter right now. Because Yu Narukami was clutching onto the fabric of his coat, tears soaking his cheeks and sobs wracking his body. Yosuke didn’t know what else to do besides hold him, not that there was anything he  _ could _ do. He couldn’t bring Nanako back, and he couldn’t make Yu stop hurting. All he could do was stand here and hold his best friend who was being torn apart by grief.

When Yu started to shiver and the tears on Yosuke’s jacket started to feel  _ really _ cold, he gently shook his friend. “Hey, Yu. Let’s get you home, alright?”

Yu sniffled, leaning against Yosuke more heavily in response. Yosuke sighed, wrapping an arm around him and half-carrying, half walking him down the street towards Dojima’s house. Yu was still shivering, from the cold or the crying, Yosuke couldn’t tell.

When they got there, Yosuke pulled the key out of Yu’s back pocket and unlocked the door, gently tugging Yu along with him. His friend seemed to have the sense to take his shoes off at the door, and Yosuke followed suit, staring with a heavy chest at the empty kotatsu sitting in the middle of the living room. Yu walked further in, dragging his feet, with Yosuke close behind. He caught sight of the table, too, and the quiet TV, and it all seemed to hit him again.

Yosuke caught Yu before he completely fell on his knees, his body shaking with fresh sobs. Yosuke held onto him, tight, and Yu hugged him back, burying his face into his shoulder and clutching onto the fabric like a lifeline. Before he knew it, Yosuke was crying, too, and he held the back of Yu’s head to his shoulder.

Once they’d started to settle down, Yosuke rested his chin on Yu’s shoulder. “Do you want to be alone?” he asked, voice hoarse from crying and yelling.

“No,” Yu choked out. “Please.”

“Don’t worry, man, I’m not going anywhere if you don’t want me to,” Yosuke said, pulling Yu to his feet. “Why don’t you get some clean clothes on, yeah? You’re soaked from the snow, and the last thing you need is to catch a cold.”

Yu said nothing, only dragged his feet to the stairs and up to his bedroom. Yosuke shivered, as the cold had started to set in for him, too, and resolved to make tea. Except, one endless cabinet search later, Dojima didn’t have any tea. Or hot chocolate. Only coffee. And while coffee wasn’t ideal when it was 1 in the morning (or anytime, for that matter) he felt like he was going to freeze to death. 

Yu’s footsteps echoed loudly as he came back downstairs, dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie. His eyes weren’t as puffy, anymore, so at least he’d stopped crying. “Hey, man,” Yosuke said, handing him a mug. “I know this is a weird time of day to drink coffee, but I figured it would help warm us up, yeah?”

Yu stared down at the coffee, his face worn and tired. “Yeah. Thanks.” Then, seemingly remembering something, he looked up. “Oh. Are you staying the night?”

“If you want me to.”

“Yeah.”

“Then yeah, I am.”

“Um… you can borrow some clothes. Upstairs, in the dresser.”

Yosuke looked down at his school uniform, which was completely soaked, and threw all politeness out the window because he was  _ not _ sleeping in this. “Sure. Thanks.”

“Yep.”

Yosuke had never actually been in Yu’s room before, despite the fact that they’d been best friends for over 6 months now. The guy didn’t seem to take much time to decorate, as it was just mainly his bed in the corner and his TV on the dresser. As Yosuke pulled a pair of sweatpants out of the dresser, a frame caught his eye, and his heart twisted.

It was a photo of Dojima, Yu and Nanako, Nanako in between the two of them and beaming happily at the camera. Yosuke’s head hung.

He’d never had —or  _ wanted _ —a little sister, but he couldn’t help but feel that Nanako was the sibling he never knew he needed. He wasn’t as close to her as Yu was, obviously, but it wasn’t an understatement to say that he adored her just as much as the rest of the gang. Losing Saki had hurt, but losing Nanako was the emotional equivalent of being run over by a bus and left to suffer.

He turned his back to the frame, quickly changing and draping his wet clothes over Yu’s sofa. He went back downstairs, eager to drink something warm and cure the chill in his bones. 

Yu was sitting on the couch, back to Yosuke and his coffee mug in hand, the contents looking untouched. Yosuke sighed, grabbing his own from the counter and sitting down directly next to Yu, shoulders pressing together. “Hey, dude, drink at least a little of that. I don’t want you to get sick.”

Yu hummed, raising the mug to his lips and taking a sip to appease Yosuke. Properly appeased, Yosuke began to drink his own. “You sure it's okay?” Yu asked quietly. “Staying the night?”

“Sure, dude, my folks won’t care. Besides, even if they did, it’s not like I’m going to leave you.”

“Thank you, Yosuke,” Yu said, and managed a weak smile, one Yosuke could tell didn’t have much heart behind it. “I’m glad you’re my friend.”

“And I’m glad to be your friend, too. Don’t you forget it,” Yosuke said, gently bumping his shoulder with his own. “We’re partners, yeah? That means I’m with you. Period. Even through the rough stuff.”

Yu’s face fell, and he stared down at his hands. “I really miss her.”

Yosuke sighed, setting his coffee down on the kotatsu. “I do too.”

“Should I have let that guy go?” Yu repeated his question from earlier, and his hands started to shake. “Are you angry with me?”

“What —no! Of course I’m not angry with you!” Yosuke said, taking the coffee from Yu’s hands before he spilled it on himself and setting it down next to his. “What makes you think that?”

“I—I’ve never seen you that angry before. Not even when Saki—” Yu sucked in a breath. “I thought you all might hate me, because I couldn’t do it. Not even when I knew that bastard is the reason Nanako’s gone.”

Yosuke sighed, looking away from Yu at the powered-off TV. “I won’t lie to you, I was angry with you at first. But… dude, I was grieving. Hell, I still am. But my conscience is clear now, and I can actually use my brain instead of charging into shit. I think you made the right call, in the end. I can’t say I would’ve, in your shoes… I guess that just makes you stronger than me.”

Yu’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

Yosuke shrugged. “I always act on my emotions first. Same was true when Saki died. I just charged in with no self-preservation or comprehensive thought, I just wanted to kick ass and make her killer pay. Same was true with tonight. But you… you always stop and think first. You put other people before you. I wish I could do that.”

“I don’t know about all of that,” Yu said. “I do know, though, that you’re the reason I was able to pull myself out of that. You’re the one that taught me strength, and caring about my friends and family.” Yosuke looked up at him in shock, as Yu continued, “Don’t underestimate yourself. You’re one of the strongest people I know.”

“Dude…” Yosuke said, and he felt tears starting to form in his eyes again. “I don’t feel very strong right now.”

“Crying is super macho.”

Yosuke laughed through his tears. “Seriously, man… thank you. I’m super lucky to have you.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?”

“Shut up and take the compliment.”

“Sure thing,” Yu said with a halfhearted smile. He let out a sigh that seemed to have been building up inside of him, his head dropping on Yosuke’s shoulder. Any other time, Yosuke’s heart would be in his throat, but his chest was so heavy all he felt was the need to hold his friend tight. “I’ve never been more tired in my life.”

“Then let’s sleep.”

“Mm. I don’t want to move.”

“That’s fine,” Yosuke said, laying back on the couch and tugging Yu with him, maneuvering him so his head moved from Yosuke’s neck to his chest. Yu accepted it without protest, his arm draping across Yosuke’s abdomen as he stared at the TV. “Hey, relax. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Yu hummed, and that was the last attempt at conversation he made before all but passing out on Yosuke’s chest. Yosuke ran a hand through the other boy’s hair, watching his chest rise and fall and the furrow in his eyebrows refusing to go away, even in sleep. Yosuke brushed his lips against the top of his head in not quite a kiss, but more of a reassurance. “Sleep well, Yu,” he murmured, until the exhaustion of the day’s events found him slipping into sleep, as well.


End file.
